Flight of the Buzzards

This week, I resumed my own modeling to put onto my portfolios for professionals to see. My F-18 Hornet model has been the first thing on my mind since this week started.

Other than that, this week was all about the Buzzards. The Buzzards is one of the units in the Agents stationed aboard the USS Orca, the Agents' aircraft carrier that doubles as a submarine. Because of this, the Buzzards and the other units in the Agents typically fly fighter jets In the Buzzards' case, the F-18 Hornet. Hence the hornet and honeycomb in the unit's logo.

Picture of the Buzzards logo.

When I showed my F-18 Hornet model to Chris, he told me that it was all triangulated and there were no textures on it! Turns out, I had material assigning confused for texturing. After looking further, Chris and I discovered that I must've not turned off the triangle setting when exporting the model into an fbx file. That'd cause problems, as you can imagine.

While I may not have anything for Monster Monday, I instead finally did something I've been meaning to do for a while now. I went back to my picture of a fighter jet I made called the Cloud Vanisher and made upgrades to it that are much more suitable than the last time I upgraded it; which was when I first made the plane and modified it for spying purposes. In fact, these new upgrades have led me to practically changing the entire plane in order for things to work.

Originally, the Cloud Vanisher was a YF-17 Cobra; the prototype fighter jet made by Northrop to compete in the US Air Force's LWF (Light Weight Fighter Program). Though it lost to the YF-16 and was made into the F-16 Fighting Falcon, McDonnell Douglas took Northrop's YF-17 design and converted it into the F-18 Hornet.

Pilot: Agent Hotman

Performance: 589,286 HP

Top Speed: Mach 10

Extra Features: Retractable Landing Gear, Twin Modified General Electric YJ-101-GE-100 Turbojet Engines, Twin Wing-Mounted Laser Rocket Launchers, Twin Wingtip-Mounted Laser Rocket Launchers, Twin Wing-Mounted M61A1 Vulcan Gatling Guns, Twin Wing-Mounted GAU-19 Miniguns, Twin Wing-Mounted External Fuel Tanks, Deployable Flares, Ejector Seat.

Type: YF-17 Cobra

And here is the new and improved Cloud Vanisher.

Pilot: Agent Hotman

Radar Operator: Agent Sapphire

Performance: 639,286 HP

Top Speed: Mach 10

Extra Features: Foldable Wings, Retractable Landing Gear, Integrated Boarding Ladder, Twin General Electric F404-GE-402 Afterburning Turbofan Engines with Independent Thrust-Vectoring and Silencing Capabilities, Reinforced RAM Coating, Twin Wingtip-Mounted Laser Rocket Launchers, Twin Wing-Mounted Laser Rocket Launchers, Nose-Integrated M61A1 Vulcan Gatling Gun, Twin Nose-Integrated GAU-19 Miniguns, Undercarriage-Mounted Deployable Specialized Interchangeable Directive Drone (S.I.D.D.), Internal Weapon Bays, Twin Wing-Mounted External Fuel Tanks, Deployable Flares, All-Purpose Bombs, Ejector Seats.

Type: F-18 Hornet

For the most part, the Cloud Vanisher is the 2-seater F-18 Hornet the F/A-18D Hornet.

However, I've also taken inspiration from the F/A-181 Black Wasp; a fictional fighter jet from the "Jets" DLC for the game "Arma 3." The Black Wasp is a mixture between 2 of my favorite jets; the F-18 Hornet and the F-22 Raptor. What I took from the Black Wasp is mostly the combination of internal and external weaponry.

However, I've also, of course, taken inspiration from the actual F-22 Raptor's internal weapon bays as well as its other stealth capabilities such as its RAM coating and thrust-vectoring engines.

Weaponry, gadgets, and functionality in depth:

Laser Rocket [ˈlāzər räkət]

A projectile created by Agents that uses a laser's kinetic energy to propel itself towards its target. They home in on their targets with ease and deal heavy damage when a hit is scored.

This diagram shows the Laser Rocket both as it sits on its pylons as well as its laser propulsion.

All-Purpose Bomb [ôl ˈpərpəs bäm]

An explosive munition made for aircraft created by Agents that can blow up any conceivable target. Depending on what kind of plane it is to be loaded onto, its configuration would change in order to fit onto the plane's weapon pylons.

This diagram shows the Cloud Vanisher's two All-Purpose Bomb types. Since it's an F-18 Hornet, the All-Purpose Bomb is built in the form of the BLU-109 Penetrator. On the bottom of the fuselage of the Cloud Vanisher are 2 internal bomb racks; each one holding 1 All-Purpose Bomb in the configuration of the 500-pound Mark 82 bomb. The reason the bombs are different for each rack is so that a more compact bomb can fit within the dimensions of the Cloud Vanisher's internal weapon bays. Unlike the external bomb, this internal bomb does not require guidance to its target and can be dropped when the pilot sets the weapons controls to drop it.

This is the Specialized Interchangeable Directive Drone. Or S.I.D.D. for short. S.I.D.D. is a targeting pod used to guide bombs to target and could also be used to film and/or photograph areas the Cloud Vanisher is flying over. Furthermore, S.I.D.D. can detach from the jet and fly around on its own via a remote control used by the radar operator, the person who sits behind the pilot.

This diagram shows S.I.D.D. and how it works when it flies on its own.

The design of the camera as well as its ability to guide bomb to target was inspired by the US Navy's Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared, or ATFLIR.

The drone part of the concept was inspired by the US Marine Corps' RQ-21 Blackjack drone.

The wings of S.I.D.D., however, were based off of the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb.

The Cloud Vanisher's engines have been modified with thrust-vectoring and silencing capability, allowing it to move more quietly and hover or perform Vertical Takeoff Landings (VTOL).

This diagram shows the Cloud Vanisher's engines as well as a better view of its internal weapon bays when opened. Doors close over the main nozzle and other doors open to allow the exhaust to shoot out in a different direction; thus pivoting the plane's thrust direction.

This design was mostly based off of the AV-8B Harrier II jump jet.

Not only have I redesigned the plane, but also the pilot.

I got the idea of the pistol holster on the vest mostly from Lt. Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) in the movie "Behind Enemy Lines" as Burnett carried a Beretta 92SB throughout the film in a holster on his vest.

So for Figure Tuesday, I worked on a portrait-style picture of the Buzzards; complete with the newly redesigned pilot suit.

Characters from left to right: Agent/Callsign/Role/Plane Agent Hostilis/Buzzard 4/Pilot/Heavenrush, Agent Honos/Buzzard 2/Pilot/Thunderhawk, Agent Munge/Buzzard 2/Radar Operator/Thunderhawk, Agent Hotman/Buzzard 1/Pilot/Cloud Vanisher, Agent Sapphire/Buzzard 1/Radar Operator/Cloud Vanisher, Agent Pulso/Buzzard 3/Pilot/Skywrath.

And that's all I got for this week.